need some numbers crunched i bought my 1st house in 1999 for $115,000 in bedford pk SA 5042 but its a 60s small house on a 1200sqm block. I was told the mitcham council are in the dark ages and wont let 3 townhouses on there as i thought this was the best way to utilise the block but they will allow 2 houses. currently getting $340 week rent and allways good tennants.
So heres my question do i wait to the council get with the times or is it worth building 2 houses there or build 2 houses and divide them down the middle and make 4 rentals( i dont know the name for this).
its been bugging me for many years and i have the money to do things but am scared of taking the lunge..thanks for reading my long post.
Heath
But you will need DA to build the 2 houses?
Have you engaged a Town Planner to see what is possible?
Regards
Shahin
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@shahin i talked to a builder who built 4 townhouses around the corner(different council area) same size block but they made enquiries to the council and came back with can only build 1 property for every 600sqm. Im thinking now of building 2 houses but dividing down the middle making 4 rentals.. has anybody done this?
I agree with discussing it with Town Planner to save getting into trouble down the track
I think you are still going to need a DA to make the 2 dwellings into 4. You are effectively doing semi's.
Regards
Shahin
TheFinanceShop | Elite Property Finance
http://www.elitepropertyfinance.com
Email Me | Phone MeResidential and Commercial Brokerage
yeah semis sound like i might get in trouble but has good return as all the asian students in the are like to live on top of each other.. i had 7 move into this small 3 bedroom at 1 stage.
Thanks Derek yes i will talk to the council. I am currently selling my restaurant and thats a headache in itself but have a buyer so half the headache is over. I am usually all or nothing but am hesitant as a 1200sqm block can have 3 townhouses not 2 as the council wants. Also i have never had a problem tennanting this property to great tennants because its next to the university. As you said i will talk to them 1st im a little excitied over this. thanks for your help
The more experienced developers here might be able to confirm if this is feasible or not but you say this property is beside a Uni. Then why don't you design 1 – 2 properties with a dorm design in mind. IE all bedroom have an ensuite and mini kitchenette bar type option (small bench with bar fridge underneath and capacity to plug in small cooking equipment like toasters, pie makers etc). The remainder of the house has a common area (lounge) kitchen and laundry.
My guess is this would make a fairly attractive and affordable accommodation option with a higher rental return outcome than a multi dwelling setup your contemplating.
It seems to me this project has to be driven primarily by rental return and little else. I would looking at how many semi contained bedrooms I could squeeze in rather the number of individual dwellings.
@ freckle wow what an idea!! would be perfect as the uni accomodation is old and way overpriced..would you suggest i ask the council about this plan if viable? I have allways had alot of luck with the chinese student renting this property and they use every square inch including the lounge as a bedroom.
Follow Derek's advice on this. He knows this stuff backwards. I'm and amateur when it comes to property development. I've been out of that game a long time.
Hi Heath,
Sounds like to me you aren't prepared to make things happen and are prepared to use the councils apparent lack of movement as your excuse.
Now I know that sounds harsh but this is your future we are talking about. You either want it and are prepared to chase it or you aren't. Now I know council planning departments can be a little crusty from time to time but I would be going to see them to see what their current policy is, are there any re-zoning plans in the council pipeline, have any multi-density applications been approved by the council in that area in recent times and so on. Speak to the planning department and you'll get a good indication of where the council stands at the moment and what the immediate future looks like.
If you get satisfactory answers to your questions then you'll be able to complete your plans.
If the councils still says no then you can either wait or you can investigate (using reasonable estimations and research) what the costs and benefits to you would be if you sold and moved on.
This has to be your call.
thanks for your valuable advice it opens up my options.
thanks again i will use these posts to jot down my questions for council and ask them if they are changing there laws in the near future
I am no legal guru so hopefully Terry or someone can answer my question…
If the landlord is aware of overpopulation of the house (as above), but turns a blind eye, could he then be legally liable if something happened? Say a fire or something and someone got hurt?
More so just interested for my own knowledge, just one of the previous posts made me think about it.
Cheers,
Hi Fantomas
It doesn't really matter what we think – we don't know the block, the area or the relevant council. All of this is up to you.
I'll try and break it down into steps for you.
1. Contact councils planning department and talk to them about your grand plans. Ask them the sorts of questions I proposed in an earlier post.
2. If they give an indicative yes then start the ball rolling more formally by conducting more thorough research and/or engaging relevant professionals.
3. If you get an indicative no then you need to consider how much you are prepared to push it and whether the benefits are worth it.
Getting zoning alterations approved can be a risky proposition – less so in your case as you already own the land and any rezoning is a bonus. Rezonings put you at the mercy of town planning schemes and the general neighbourhood.
PS – aw shucks Freckle.
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